2014 // word of the year: RUN

(Pictures from my first official running race. 4.6 miles on Thanksgiving morning, 2013 with friends from high school.)

My word for 2014 is run.

RUN.

Run for the finish line. Run my first half marathon. Run toward my goals. Run focused. Run with determination. Run toward others. Run for my life. Run my life.

At the end of the day, I often feel like I’ve let others run my life. Let others tell me what to think of myself, how to feel about myself, how to feel about my life. I let others influence too much of my world. This past year I’ve found myself questioning on more than one occasion what I was doing, not sure if I wanted it or I thought I should want it. I don’t want there to be any confusion about why I’m doing something. 2014 I’m going to run my own life. I’m going to let others have less control over how I feel on a daily basis.

So this year, I’m running the show. Literally and figuratively.

Last month I signed up for my city’s half marathon. The biggest one in the country. I’ll be running with thousands and thousands of others from around the world. And so I’ll be training like a fiend for the next four months getting ready. It’s probably the scariest and most exciting thing I’ve ever done.

Run for my goals, my dreams. I’m operating in that place between what my selfish dreams are and what God’s dreams for my life, our life, are. So asking before jumping and then running confidently in the direction that is honoring to Him is what 2014 will be about.

Running to my friends. My nature is to isolate. Not reach out, not ask for help. And this hurts those around me, those that want to be a part of my life, want to do life with me. So this year I’m running toward others instead thinking I can do everything, handle everything, cover everything.

You take over. I’m about to die, my life an offering on God’s altar. This is the only race worth running. I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that’s left now is the shouting—God’s applause! Depend on it, he’s an honest judge. He’ll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming.
2 Timothy 4:6-8

2014, let’s do this.